Whether you take this self-reflexivity as evidence of a newfound sophisticationon behalf of the comic book, or as self-hatred tricked out as superiority—thatold adolescent standby—is up to you. Watchmen was unquestionably a landmarkwork, a masterpiece, even. Before Moore came along, comic books were notgenerally in the habit of quoting Nietzsche, or scrambling their time schemes,or berating their heroes for their crypto-fascist politics, or their readers forreading them. It was Moore’s slightly self-negating triumph to have allowed itto do so. But did the comic book have to “grow up”? The last time I looked, theonly ones reading Ulysses and quoting Nietzsche were teenagers. No adult hastime for aesthetic “difficulty” or “self-consciousness.” Life is too short.Frankly, we’d much rather be watching The Incredibles.